Braid
by 9r7g5h
Summary: If it would help bring peace to the Davis home, Andy was willing to learn how to do one of the most complicated hairdos known to mankind.


**AN: **I was thinking about Toy Story, and about how all the toys say that Andy is the greatest kid in the world. So, this is a little idea that just popped into mind. I hope you like it! :)

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Toy Story. Pixar does.

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"Mom, can you _please_ braid my hair today?"

"I'm sorry Molly, but I don't have the time to do it today. Tomorrow, I promise. ANDY! Get down here NOW! We're going to be late again!"

"But Mom, that's what you said yesterday."

Twelve year old Andy sighed as he rolled off his bed, stuffing the rest of his half eaten poptart into his mouth as he started to search for his missing shoe. Every morning it was the exact same routine, the exact same chaos that cursed the Davis family Monday through Friday. Every morning, he would get up almost an hour earlier then he had to in order to avoid the conflict with his mother and sister, retreating to his room once he was ready to leave for a couple of minutes of peace, free to either surf the web on the old computer his mom had let him install within his room or have a quick mini adventure with his toys before he was shuffled off to school.

Or rather, tried to do those things.

At seven years old, Molly had still yet to master the concept of time and how long it often took someone to do something. Because of this, everyday, she would beg their mother once more to please braid her hair, a popular style amongst the second grade girls in her class, normally right before they had to leave so the two of them could be dropped off at school before their mother went to work. Running short on both time and patience, Mom would promise tomorrow, tomorrow would come with no braid, and the three month battle between the two most important females in his life would once again end in an awkward car ride where everyone was in a bad mood.

Pausing as someone knocked on his door, Andy watched as it slowly swung open to reveal his litter sister, her mid-back length hair falling in front of her face in a curtain of blonde curls.

"Hey Andy? Do you think I could borrow Jessie today? I was telling my teacher about her the other day, and Mrs. Witchaw said she remembers watching the show she was on on reruns when she was little, and would like to take a look at her."

For a moment Andy considered refusing, pointing out that the cloth cowgirl was far to old and fragile to be handled by a bunch of kids, but reconsidered as he saw her glistening eyes. Sighing, he nodded as he returned to his search for his shoe, waving her away so she would leave.

"As long as you promise to be careful and are fully aware of the fact that, if I find a single yarn out of place on her hair, you have to pay to get her fixed."

Smiling as she quickly nodded her head, promising that she would be extra super careful with the cowgirl, Andy couldn't help but chuckle as Molly shut his door, once again muffling the sound of their mother running around, trying to make sure everything was ready so they could leave soon. Finally finding his shoe, which had been hiding under the middle of his bed, he sat back on his heels as he pulled it on, tying the laces shut as before he forgot it again.

Crawling over to the chest, Andy quickly threw open the wooden wagon to reveal his old toys, still jumbled together from when he had thrown then in a few days ago after one of his increasingly rare play times. Digging his hand through the pile of plastic and cloth, his eyes searching for a familiar flash of red, Andy smiled as he spotted the cowgirl, one of his favorite toys from when he was younger. Extracting her from Slinky's coil, he was just reaching up to adjust her hat when he froze, his eyes locked on the red gathering of yarn that had been sewn onto her head. Turning Jessie around, Andy examined the carefully made braid that fell down her back, kept together with a single yellow bow at the end of her locks.

"Andrew Davis, I swear, if you don't get down here right this minute..."

"I'm coming," Andy yelled back, tucking Jessie under his arm as he grabbed his book bag, heading towards the bedroom door. Pausing once more, he couldn't help but smile as the idea that had started to form in his mind began to take shape, a plan that would hopefully make things a lot easier for all of them in the mornings.

It was seven hours later, after retrieving Jessie from Molly and successfully hiding his notes from first period from his mother, that Andy finally was able to put his plan into action.

Throwing his stuff onto his bed, Andy carefully opened the binder he had placed the notes in, the step by step instructions carefully written out in in neat black letters with crude but effective pictures next to each one. Slipping the bow out of Jessie's hair, he gently ran his fingers through the stiff yarn, loosening up the fibers that had never before been separated. Sitting her down before him next to the papers, Andy made sure his door and windows were closed and locked before finally reading the first direction.

_Step number 1: Separate the hair into three sections._

Blushing at the thought of any of the guys ever seeing this, Andy did just that, smoothing down the two end clumps of yarn over the cowgirl's shoulders so they wouldn't become one big mass again. Thankful that he had been able to manage that much at least, he quickly moved on, hopeful that things would perhaps stay this easy.

_Step two: Take the left section and cross it over the middle section, making the left section the new middle section and the middle section the new left section. _

After a few minutes of trying to decipher the horrible drawing that had been placed next to the directions, he hesitantly switched the two clumps, pulling tightly on them so they would stay together.

_Step three: Repeat step two with the right section. _

His confidence growing, Andy flipped the clump of hair he had been holding in his right hand over to the middle, careful not to get it mixed up with either of the other two he had somehow managed to wrap around one of his fingers. Tugging on it so it pulled into place, Andy couldn't help but be proud as he examined the first knot looking thing that made up the majority of the design. For a guy, who just happened to be trying for the first time to braid hair, it actually looked pretty okay. Sure that he could soon master this new skill that would help bring peace to his household, he looked down at the second to last instruction that had been written out for him.

_Step four: Repeat steps two and three until you get to the end of the hair. _

As he continued to try and fix the doll's hairdo, Andy couldn't help but curse as things immediately began to go wrong with what he had thought would be such a simple project. Unused to any repetitive motion that didn't include video games, his clumsy fingers kept dropping strands of yard as he tried to pass the clumps over each other, making each of the strange knots lumpy and uneven is size and shape. For almost an half hour the pre-teen struggled with the activity until, finally, he reached step number five.

_Step five: Once the end of the hair has been reached, use a hair tie to keep the braid from falling apart. _

**We all think that this is just the nicest thing a big brother has ever done for his little sister, and we all wish you luck Andy. **

And maybe if you get good enough, we'll even let you practice on our hair too. ;)

Blushing even more as he read the jumble of notes that littered the bottom of the paper from the girls he had asked advice from earlier that morning, Andy hurriedly tied the annoyingly small yellow ribbon once more around Jessie's hair, now a tangled mess that was probably worse then the cords to his game controllers. Plopping back so he was lying his bed, he let out a sigh as he pulled his backpack towards him, digging around the bottom for his agenda.

Sitting back up, Andy flipped through the little pocket book until he reached today's date, his eyes skimming over the huge workload his teachers had assigned him that day. 'Project fever' had finally struck, making his head swim just by looking at all the different dates and assignments he had to get done for the next few classes. Picking up Jessie in his other hand, he couldn't help but wince as he once more looked at her hair, the knotted mess looking very painful for the toy cowgirl, even if she would never notice. From what he could tell, he had two different options he could follow right now: either do the homework now and have a free weekend, or continue to try and teach himself how to do one of the most difficult hairdos in the world.

Sighing, Andy threw his agenda over his shoulder as he worked the bow out of Jessie's hair, his fingers gently working out the hoard of knots and tangles that had amassed within her fiery locks.

"Be glad that nothing is due tomorrow Molly, or else you would never get your wish."

The next morning, instead of retreating to the relative safety of his room, Andy instead seated himself at the kitchen table, an array of tools surrounding him as he waited for the women of the house to appear. Right on time, just like every morning, his mother dragged herself into the room, grumbling about how morning was too early and that the sun should be arrested for rising so soon after she had just gone to bed. Following her was Molly, already energetic as she bounced around the room, waiting for whatever breakfast was being made for her. Watching as she made to run around the room another time, he quickly intercepted the sever year old girl and placed her upon the stool he had set out earlier, using one of his arms to restrain her as he reached for the brush.

"Andy, what are you doing? Let me go! Mom, Andy's touching me!"

Ignoring the warning grunt from his mother, Andy tightened his hold on the wiggling child as he finally grasped the blue plastic hair brush he had stolen from her bathroom earlier in the morning. Rapping her on the head with it, he quickly shushed her, returning her complaining with a question and explanation of his own.

"You said you wanted your hair braided, didn't you? Well, if you stop complaining and sit still for a few minutes, I'm going to do it for you."

To his credit, Andy was able to ignore the incredulous looks the two females gave each other as he began to brush his sister's flowing locks, gently teasing out the tangles that had formed throughout the night. Once he was satisfied that her hair was clear of all interference, he swept his hands out to either side of her head, his fingers expertly grasping the stands so they were separated into three distinct clumps. With the stage set and his materials ready, Andy paused for a moment, just long enough to increase their obvious surprise, before he began to braid.

After hours of practicing on his Jessie doll, Andy could easily and proudly say that the braid was no longer a big deal, despite the fact that his little sister had a lot more hair then the cloth cowgirl. Flipping the clumps of hair over each other with an ease that effectively hid his nervousness at messing up, he was already a quarter of the way through with the braid when his mother ran off, muttering about how she needed the video camera to document this historical event. She quickly returned a moment later with the camera already on, it's red light blinking is it recorded the sight of the two of them, Molly sitting silently for once as Andy worked on completing the hairdo.

"Almost done...And there!"

Handing her a mirror so she could see herself, Andy smiled as Molly let out a happy laugh, her eyes dancing as she examined the thick rope that traveled down her spine.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you, Andy! It's perfect! You're the best big brother ever!"

"Aww, it's no problem Molly."

Smiling at his younger sister as he finished tying the light pink bow that he had found amongst the rest of their hair care supplies over the rubber band holding everything together, Andy gently shooed her off to go finish getting ready for school. Glancing over at his mother, who was still watching him with the camera, he widened his smile so it showed all of his teeth before sticking his tongue out at her, laughing as she rolled her eyes in return.

"It's just a braid."

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**AN: **Thank you all for reading! I hope you liked the story. All reviews and suggestions are welcomed! :)


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